It has been eight months since Amino was shut down and taken off the App Store and Google Play Store. And as a former user of the app, I thought that I'd write my own thoughts about it:

Sure, it wasn't a perfect app, but Amino's shutdown is still heartbreaking and is a symptom of online child- and teenage-oriented spaces either gradually disappearing, or taken over by grown-ups that were never the main demographic to begin with.

I used to use it a lot from 10th grade to early 12th grade, until I quit at 17 (due to being stressed and nervous just from using it). I posted art, made friends, talked about OCs and stuff. So, I had a lot of good memories from it that I will never see again.

And because those kids have nowhere else to go, they are forced to flock to more mature platforms where they will be exposed to dangerous people and inappropriate content.

I mean, I can understand why they keep withering and dying (expenses, strict advertising regulations), but it's still sad. There is Roblox sure, but they are currently in hot water for allowing and protecting child predators on their platform.

Amino communities made an effort to provide kids and teens safe spaces where they were free from pornography, gore, and pro-eating disorder/self-harm/suicide movements. There were some predatory behaviours there of course, but at least those cases were still taken seriously.

And yeah, those were my thoughts.

R.I.P Amino (Apps)

(2012-2025)